Lincoln
- No. 16 Nebraska dominated a bowl-eligible Minnesota team for three
quarters to take a 38-0 lead before settling for a 38-14 win in NU's
final home game of 2012 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

With the win, the Huskers posted a perfect 7-0 record at home this year, their first undefeated home slate since the 2001 season.

Nebraska
notched its fifth consecutive victory to improve to 9-2 overall and 6-1
in the Big Ten. The Huskers registered their fifth straight nine-win
season under Head Coach Bo Pelini and moved a win away from clinching
the Big Ten Legends Division title. NU closes its regular season at Iowa
in the Heroes Game on Friday, Nov. 23 at 11 a.m. That game will be
televised nationally by ABC.

Minnesota,
which slipped to 6-5 overall and 2-5 in the Big Ten with the loss, was
all but shut down by Nebraska's Blackshirt defense through three
quarters. The Blackshirts shut out Minnesota for three-and-half
quarters, before the Gophers scored on a short touchdown run after
gaining a short field midway through the fourth quarter. Minnesota added
a second touchdown to capitalize on a fumbled hand-off between Ron
Kellogg III and Braylon Heard at the NU 6.

Through
the first three quarters, Minnesota managed just 102 total yards,
including just 43 rushing yards on 19 carries. NU also held Gopher
quarterback Philip Nelson to just 8-of-20 passing for 59 yards.

The
Blackshirts also intercepted a pair of Nelson passes, with the first
coming from senior safety Daimion Stafford - his team-leading third of the year - and
the second coming from Stanley Jean-Baptiste, who took his pick to the
house with a 48-yard return for a touchdown. Jean-Baptiste's
interception return put the Huskers up 38-0 with 1:12 left in the third
quarter.

While
the defense dominated, Taylor Martinez, Kenny Bell and the rest of the
Nebraska offense marched up and down the field throughout the first
three quarters. Martinez completed 21-of-29 passes for 308 yards on the
day, his third 300-yard passing day on the seaosn and the fourth of his career. His favorite target was Bell, as the sophomore wide receiver hauled
in a career-high nine catches for a career-high 137 yards with two
touchdowns.

Martinez,
who entered the game needing just 19 yards to set Nebraska's career
record for passing yards, shattered the mark and became the first
6,000-yard career passer in school history. The junior from Corona,
Calif., closed the day with 6,140 career passing yards. He added 22
yards rushing to close the day with 330 yards of total offense.

Sophomore
I-back Ameer Abdullah set a milestone of his own, leading the Huskers
with 18 carries for 79 yards. Abdullah went over 1,000 yards for the
season, finishing the day with 1,021 yards on the year.

Martinez, Bell and Abdullah rested during the fourth quarter, along with many other Husker starters.

On
a day when Nebraska celebrated and honored retiring athletic director
and Hall of Fame coach Tom Osborne, senior place-kicker Brett Maher
opened the scoring for NU with his 39-yard field on the Huskers' opening
drive.

Following
a Blackshirt stop, Martinez capped an eight-play, 85-yard drive by
connecting with Bell on a 36-yard touchdown strike to put the Huskers up
10-0 with 6:05 left in the opening quarter.

In
the second quarter, freshman I-back Imani Cross added a pair of short
touchdown blasts to extend NU's lead to 24-0. The Huskers also executed
well in the two-minute drill late in the half, driving all the way to
the Gopher goal line before a third plunge attempt into the end zone by
Cross was denied as time expired to end the half.

The
Huskers continued to control play in the third quarter, as Martinez
hooked up with Bell again for a 30-yard touchdown pass to give NU a 31-0
lead with 8:57 left in the quarter. Jean-Baptiste's 48-yard
interception return capped Nebraska's scoring for the game with 1:12
left in the third quarter.

Nebraska
finished the day with with 444 yards of total offense, including 133
rushing and 311 passing. Minnesota picked up 75 of its 177 total yards
in the fourth quarter as the Huskers substituted freely on Senior Day at
Memorial Stadium.